A California Supreme Court ruling will allow Sonoma-Marin Area Rail Transit to resume construction of a 3-mile extension north to a station in Windsor, Calif., the Santa Rosa Press-Democrat reports.

Last week’s 7-0 ruling by the court ended a long-running court fight by the Howard Jarvis Tax Association seeking to overturn a 2018 ballot measure passed by 55% of San Francisco Bay Area voters allowing for toll increases to pay for transportation projects. The tax group argued the tolls constituted a tax that should have required approval by two-thirds of voters.

The tolls have been collected since 2019 but have remained in escrow. The decision will allow some $4.45 billion in funding of various projects to begin, including $40 million for the SMART extension north of Santa Rosa. The transit agency halted its construction in 2020 while the case was working its way through the courts.

Current estimates are that the extension to Windsor will cost about $70 million, with about $35 million funded from sources other than the toll funds.